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"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Don't worry about the commentary
If Folau moves to centre you would create twice as many opportunities .
The reason they played better was because they kept the ball and didn't kick it back.
This should lead to more scoring opportunities but doesn't because Folau won't go to centre ,he must have something over cheika, if that was Savea he would be benched.about time hodge went to inside centre stick with him he will bear fruit.D mumm is a waste of space but was the same type of player as cheika was so maybe his love child, better and more hardworking flankers around can't get away with that agravting style anymore .cheika needs to harden up and not get involved in the kiwi mind games he has the cattle to be competitive and I see the wallabies beating the ABs next season if he keeps his mind on the job and moves that lazy fullback to centre
Wests Scarborough 1st Grade juggernaut has played finals rugby each and every year since its inception and continues this remarkable feat yet again this season and unbelievably it's still rolling on and as an added little circle jerk for the masses Wests actually hold the record for the current longest unbroken finals record.
Well, after a season of disappointment, we must search for positives. It has been almost a lifetime since I have seen such impressive go forward from a wallaby pack. The pick and drive, hard running and short off loads were very impressive at times in Bledisloe 3. In fact there were extended periods of this match when the wallaby pack was totally dominant over the best team of all time. With the exception of some of the ferocious hitting by Jerome Kaino the wallabies won a lot of the collisions and the physical battle. The allblacks again demonstrated their unmatched ability to destroy an opponent with counter attack. Hopefully we will soon learn we need pace and power on the wings. It was great to see Speight back on the wing. Despite the flogging, there was some real quality rugby from our pack. I was delighted to see how filthy they were at the press conference. You can only stop losing by developing a real hatred of coming second. I loved it. The attitude is heading in the right direction. The physicality is heading in the right direction. The lineout and scrum has umproved lightyears. We are getting some real pace and power into the backline. Success is coming. I cant wait to kick a kiwi. The arrogance out of that country has developed a stench.
Controversy corner
I would like these questions answered;
1) why do we kick every single kick off to the same position every time, uncontested for an easy exit for all blacks. Surely it is better to make a contestable kick?
2) why does foley take some of the kids for touch when he kicks it out ten metres whereas hodge kicks it 30+
3) What is Mumm doing there?
Hmm ... all 3 Qs can only be answered by one man.
My 4th Q is what substantiation can Foley give for his claim that they can head off on tour & win 5 consecutive tests in 5 weeks against Wales, Scotland, France, Ireland & England ... in that order.
What I saw against the All Blacks on Saturday gives me reason to believe that the first four aren't impossible, I would be really confident about three out of four (I reckon if we lose to either Wales or France, it'll fire the boys up enough to sort the rest of it) England is still an unknown for me. I think the Wallabies is a far better team today than they were three months ago, but I also think Eddie Jones has built himself a nice little campsite in Cheika's head and will be twisting every advantage he possibly can out of it.
He'll play the English media like an orchestra and I'm concerned Cheika is nowhere near smart enough to convince the team to ignore it.
C'mon the
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Wallaroos 3-29 NZ
Much improved effort by our girls to half the margin from the first test. Imagine how good they would be with extra tests and a proper pathway program.
Club ----> NRC ---> Test
Was there a difference in Squad availability too with release of 7s girls ...?
There were a few players from the Sevens in the first test on Saturday.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
An analysis from rugby365:
Incident 1
This happens early in the second half with New Zealand leading 15-10.
Bernard Foley of Australia dummies and breaks inside Kieran Read of New Zealand. He races ahead and when confronted by Ben Smith (15) of New Zealand passes to Henry Speight (11) on his right, about 38 metres from the goal-line. Speight races to the goal line and dives to score the try.
The referee awards the try but before the conversion is taken the TMO suggests that he checks something.
The referee then tells the TMO to "show me and tell me what I'm looking at".
The incident is then replayed from different angles. It shows that Dane Haylett-Petty (14) of Australia moved to his right and made contact with Julian Savea (11) of New Zealand when Speight was about 26 metres from the goal-line.
When he has a look from a few angles, the referee says to the TMO that he had seen Haylett-Petty alter "his line to put him [Savea] off his stride". The TMO agrees with the referee. The referee then penalises Haylett-Petty.
No try.
When first the incident was replayed, immediately there was comment from the commentators, who clearly did not agree with the eventual decision.
The first comment, before there was really much evidence, was that "it was nothing" and that "Haylett-Petty was allowed to run that line". The commentators agree and make the point that "Speight was gone", suggesting that Savea would not have caught him.
When the decision was made the commentator announced: "We reiterate that this was not Nigel Owens's call. It was called down from upstairs. It was called by Veldsman - Shaun Veldsman." (Veldsman was the TMO.)
What the commentator said certainly sounded like an exoneration of the referee and a blaming of the TMO, even though it was the referee who proclaimed Haylett-Petty's act as illegal and the referee who penalised him.
This is one of those "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situations. New Zealanders would agree with the decision; Australians vociferously disagree with it, following their coach's lead.
Here are two quotations from Law 10, which deals with foul play.
Law 10.1 (c) Blocking the tackler. A player must not intentionally move or stand in a position that prevents an opponent from tackling a ball-carrier.
Sanction: Penalty kick
Law 10.4 (e) Playing a player without the ball is dangerous play.
Sanction: Penalty kick.
Haylett-Petty got into Savea's way. That means he blocked Savea from having any chance of getting to Speight. That is a penalisable offence under the law dealing with foul play.
In doing what he did Haylett-Petty played Savea who did not have the ball. That, too, is a penalisable offence under the law dealing with foul play.
That Speight was "gone" was not relevant. They remain infringements that happened before the "try" was scored.
It would seem that the referee was right to penalise Haylett-Petty.
Be careful about following what commentators say. That it is said by "we who have played the game" does not make what they say right. After all people who play the game also get on the wrong side of the Laws of the Game. In this match players were penalised 21 times and one was cited and suspended after the match.
Did rugby 365 compare it to the incident when Dane Coles did exactly the same thing to Bernard Foley or was it written by a new Zealander?
C'mon the